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I’ve always loved exploring and understanding consumer trends, and thinking through how technology can be used to respond to deliver new consumer products and services or vice versa. Luckily for me, this is part of my job! Just before Christmas I had the opportunity to participate in the annual Most Contagious event in London. It was great to hear a whole range of talks and discussions on what is in store for us in 2015 and beyond.
So what are we going to see?
Fans of Back to the Future may recall that 21 October 2015 is the date that Doc Brown and Marty McFly go ‘back’ to in Part II … and whilst we all know that we’re not going to be zooming around on hoverboards, life is definitely very different to life in 1985.
Video is everywhere … if 2013 was the year of the selfie, then 2014 has been the year of the selfie video (how many of us did the ALS ice bucket challenge?!) … think of how facebook content has shifted from text to photos, and it’s now moving to videos…
…but whatever the medium we know that the amount of content is going up, up, up … the challenge is distribution … how do you get people to look at your content? and SHARE it?!
There was lots of discussion about viral marketing and engagement. The consensus was that consumers like emotional content and are much more likely to share content if they have a strong positive emotional response. Also that if brands share their values rather than just an overt sales message then they are much more likely to engage consumers … a brilliant example was shared by Wren who created the ‘First Kiss‘ video. There is no sales messaging, in fact, the clothing worn in the video wasn’t even available for sale at the time of release! But it worked … traffic to the Wren website went up 14000% as a result, 96% from new visitors, and on-line sales went up over 13500%, result from an emotional film that explored values and is definitely not a commercial!
There was more talk about data … understanding and use of data is going mainstream and there is increasing awareness of the importance to use it with care as it can hide as well as enhance messages. Also about how the collection of data can be done in a way that can enhance the consumer experience such as the fun example of Spotify using wristbands at the Coachella festival to track your experience around the festival. Data needs to be gathered, interpreted, transformed into something and turned into a magical emotional experience.
The day continued with many old and new buzz phrases, a parade of trendy clothed wearing advertising types, and demos from start-ups.
I’m looking forward to the year ahead!
For a different type of trend fest I’m just heading off to CES in Las Vegas where we’ll be exhibiting in the Sands Expo, booth 74224. Come and see us there!
